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Epidemiology of Paediatric Cancer

  • J. M. Birch
Chapter
Part of the Recent Results in Cancer Research book series (RECENTCANCER, volume 88)

Abstract

Epidemiology can be defined as the study of the health of human communities. In looking at paediatric cancer from an epidemiological viewpoint it is important to consider its relationship to other diseases which may influence the incidence of all or some types of cancer in childhood; studying the patterns of disease within individual families may lead to discoveries of aetiological significance. In England and Wales cancer is now the most common natural cause of death in childhood and is exceeded only by accidents (Office of Population Censuses and Surveys 1978). This pattern, which is common to most developed countries, emerged in the period immediately following the Second World War. With improvements in health care and better social conditions infections, which had hitherto been the major cause of childhood death, rapidly became of less importance.

Keywords

Germ Cell Tumour Childhood Cancer Paediatric Cancer Environmental Carcinogen Acute Lymphoid Leukaemia 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin · Heidelberg 1983

Authors and Affiliations

  • J. M. Birch
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of Epidemiology and Social Research, Children’s Tumor RegistryChristie Hospital and Holt Radium InstituteWithington, ManchesterUK

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